Pizza

This post is going to be kind of a tease, and I apologize for that. But this huge delicious pizza, with a thin chewy crust and tasty toppings, came from a secret pizza lair (appartment) where a dedicated pizza chef spends the weekends cranking out pizzas and selling them for a good price (cash only) to people who ring his doorbell. I love the fact that there is a person spending their Friday nights in their tiny steamy kitchen, perfecting their pizza-making passion by cranking out high quality pizza, selling it for a reasonable price, and making a few bucks in the process. 

Of course it makes me wonder what else is out there! No doubt in a city as full of food-oriented, creative, discerning, adventurous eaters as Seattle there must exist many little pseudo businesses where passionate cooks are experimenting and sharing the fruits of their labors.

(I would love to share the details of this delightful little pizza source, but am not going to at this point because I don't want to cause them any trouble.)

Bar del Corso

I have long been eager to eat at Bar del Corso on Beacon Hill, and recently had the chance for a celebratory dinner.

We started with fried risotto balls. They were every bit as scrumptious as that sounds... creamy, pink risotto with a mozzarella center fried in a crisp cornmeal crust. I could have eaten a whole lot of these!

Bar del Corso has a frequently changing seasonal menu, and it was unfortunate that the menu for our visit was a little heavy on the meat (for example, a salad with tuna heart), and I did not feel inclined to pay for a somewhat pricy salad made to order without all of its expensive and interesting components ($9 plate of just radicchio? no thanks). None the less, managed a fantastic meal, and there was a fully vegetarian spinach dish on the menu. It was exquisite.

The dish was a huge mound of lightly sauteed spinach with roasted hazelnuts, golden raisins and browned garlic.

We ordered two pizzas, one with braising greens, tomatoes and smoked mozzarella (copa on the side).

And another with fresh mozzarella, spicy peppers and rapini (hold the anchovies).

Both were outstanding Napoleon style pizzas. I am sometimes unsatisfied with this style of pizza because the center tends to disintegrate into a pile of mush and the toppings are often extremely scant (leaving some slices with nothing but melting crust and a smear tomato sauce), but the toppings here were plentiful and well distributed. I was especially taken by the presence of green veggies on both of these pizzas. Both the greens and the rapini got a tasty brown char in the hot pizza oven that was really special.

The pizzas were quite a bit larger than we had expected, and we had ample leftovers (always a treat!).

My main advice for visiting this place as a vegetarian or vegan would be to check in ahead of time and make sure that either the daily menu was to your liking, or that you were prepared to pay full price for a dish that had been modified to remove its expensive (animal) parts.

East 20 Pizza

East 20 Pizza is one obvious stand-out to the dearth of good, vegetarian food in the Methow area,
and its nightly overflowing popularity speaks to this.

Suffice it to say the pizza is tasty and reasonable priced. We ordered a "Puttenesca" with chicken on just one half. It was deliciously packed with olives, capers, tomatoes, pepperoncinis, oregano, spicyness, etc.

If there wasn't some part of my brain/body telling me not to eat pizza every night, I probably would cut out the relatively fruitless Methow vegetarian dinner search and eat only here.

Rudloof's Pizza

Rudloof's Pizza is one of a couple pizza options in the Bavarian themed tourist/outdoors Mecca Leavenworth. Stopping to eat here was a debate... there was a hunch among us that the pizza was going to be the lamest kind, but a peek through the fence at the plates of fellow diners inspired some confidence and we gave it a shot. It was the wrong choice.

The best part of the meal (it's all relative!) was the family sized house salad with ranch dressing. It was reasonably large (though two of us easily polished it off), and included some dried carrot/cabbage shreds, mozzarella, a few tomatoes, cheap croutons, and a mix of fresh and old lettuce.

The pizza was, unfortunately, one of my least favorite kinds. The crust, which seemed pre-baked, was a sort of greasy, pillow-y texture with no chew or character. The toppings (we chose fresh tomato and bell pepper) were finely diced and lost in a repulsively deep layer of un-browned cheese.

The whole experience made me sort of sorry. I felt sorry for the restaurant for wasting so much money on excess mozzarella. I felt sorry for the cows who made the milk in the cheese that I wasted. I felt sorry about wasting our precious dollars on this dinner. I felt sorry for myself for the vast number of unenjoyed calories I put into my body during this meal.

Padrino's Pizza

Padrino's Pizza now inhabits the building that the fleeting Purple Rain Cafe used to occupy near the Silver Fork and Emerald City Fish and Chips on Rainier Ave. I admit, I was initially turned off by the place because of their logo:

But received a glossy full color menu/brochure/coupon pack in the mail from these guys that brought me around a bit. The clincher for me was the bold statement: FREE DELIVERY, in my delivery-neglected south end neighborhood. Good advertising!

I was recently racing the rain on an outdoor house project and decided it would be a perfect night to have dinner delivered. Ordered up an XL (had a coupon!) cheese pizza topped with broccoli and red peppers.

The pizza wasn't spectacular, but I wasn't really expecting it to be. It was, however, better than Pizza Hut or the like because it had a thin crust and a reasonable amount of cheese, and a nice list of interesting veggie toppings to choose from.

I won't be turning to these guys for honest-to-god pizza cravings (we are so pizza spoiled around here, especially with Flying Squirrel so near by), but it is fabulous to know that there is an option for delivery.

All Purpose Pizza

Have you heard of the Seattle Bouldering Project, the new bouldering (rock climbing low enough to the padded ground that you don't need ropes)/yoga/fitness gym near the Goodwill at Dearborn and Rainier Ave? It's pretty darn sweet (even if you aren't interested in the climbing aspect, it's a good deal to join for the unlimited yoga alone!)

Anyhow, after a recent gnarly sesh at the gym, some friends and I went to somewhat near-by All Purpose Pizza.

We started with a giant family style house salad that stole the show for me. It was huge and loaded with tasty ingredients and came with slices of garlic bread made from Columbia City Bakery baguette.
Next we ordered a pizza, split down the middle with half caramalized onions/jalapenos, the other half arugula/fresh tomato.

The pizza has a thicker, sour dough type of crust, and if you go in expected that detail, it's pretty tasty. I made an ordering mistake though: the jalapeno was fresh and startlingly spicy to the degree that I (and, well, everybody else too) had a tough time eating the half I designed. Live and learn!

Big Mario's Pizza

Big Mario's sells giant, cracker thin slices of tasty New York Style Pizza. I happen to love this style of pizza with the thin almost crisp crust, a complete layer of browned and blistered mozzarella, simple tomato sauce, and a slice so large it begs to be folded into a pizza taco.

You can buy pizza by the slice or by the pie, and there were nearly a dozen different pizzas at the ready for the hungry slice-buyer. I saw plenty of vegetarian options: cheese, fresh tomato and basil, mushroom and spinach, and some kind of Greek looking option. I didn't see any vegan pizzas.

Another plus is that Big Mario's is open LATE (4am on weekends!), which is awfully nice for the bar go-ers in the Pike/Pine boozebath.

Pizza my Heart

I was in Santa Cruz maybe a decade ago when I first came across Pizza my Heart. I remember it then as being a cool, independant pizza shop with awesome pizza. For this reason, I was especially excited to find out that there was now an outpost in Monterey, near where I was staying.

Turns out Pizza my Heart is now a small chain, and the interior of the restaurant had a small chain feel, which was sort of a detractor for me. That said, they had a vegetarian pizza that was right up my alley: The Linda Mar, made with broccoli, artichoke hearts, fresh tomatoes, spinach, fresh garlic and black olives. YUM. This pizza was very vegetable heavy, which I completely enjoyed.

Pizza my Heart now has custom made hot sauce too... habenero, jalapeno and chipotle.

Another thing Pizza my Heart has going for it is some serious condiments. In addition to their 3 custom made hot sauces, they have this awesome little rack full of herbs and spices and delicious things to sprinkle on your pizza as you desire.

I guess the world keeps changing, and it's a good thing that these guys are doing so well!

Belltown Pizza

So... I had had a long week at work, but maintained the noble intent to go home and cook up some dinner from the odds and ends already in the kitchen. As I dragged arse walking my tired self through Belltown with my dining companion, he busted past me and followed his nose right into the front door of Belltown Pizza, where the intoxicating aroma of fresh pizza pulled him off the street. By time I followed behind him, he had already ordered us each a couple of slices of this vegetarian delight and the idea of going home and cooking dinner was merrily on its way.

I hardly cared what else was on there... I was easy to please and 100% sold at the Jalapeno slices alone. Turns out the pizza was pretty darn good... thin crust, good sauce, etc. I guess I don't spend much time eating in Belltown, otherwise this might be a mainstay, especially because they sell by the slice. Pepped me back up!

Belltown Billiards

Belltown Billiards makes surprisingly good pizza. I was recently there on a stormy week night when the place was nearly empty aside from me and my pool shark friends. We ordered a bunch of pizzas through out the evening, including a tasty vegetarian pizza with fresh tomatoes and basil. There is a pizza oven and the back, and the thin chewy crusted beauties came out piping hot and surprisingly delicious. I had really low expectations, but am glad that I saved my appetite and indulged it here.

Belltown Billiards also has some good Happy Hour drink specials, including a $5 margaritas and Jack and Gingers.

The Snorting Elk

I was recently at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort around dinner time and was thrilled to learn that it's possible to buy dinner at a resort restaurant for a decent price. My dining companion and I ate at the Snorting Elk Bar (which is, I believe, the only place to buy dinner at a decent price).

We started with a $7 salad that exceeded my expectations: giant pile of mixed greens, spinach and lettuce, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, shredded carrots, black olives and sliced red onions in a simple homemade vinagrette.

Next we had a cheese pizza for $17. It was a nice thin pizza with a surprisingly buttery crust. It was large enough that the two of us got full and still had a couple slices left over.

Turnpike Pizza

I recently went to Turnpike Pizza on Greenlake for a birthday party.

We started with a spinach salad. It's hard to complain about a pile of spinach, but the dressing on this one was only mediocre.

Upon receipt of the pizza, I was a little surprised, in this day of pizza snobbery and discretion, that a pizzeria in a popular neighborhood could get away with this sort of product. I found the crust to be so-so, the sauce to be overly salty, and something (the sauce? the crust?) to be way too sweet. Plus, it came to the table, theoretically fresh from the oven, with the appearance of having been sitting somewhere cold for too long. Maybe something in the system (me? them?) was having an off night.

This photo makes the pizza look misleedingly good

There are plenty of vegetarian options, and vegan pizza options too, but I don't think I'd waste the calories on this place again unless it was for a specific social function.

Flying Squirrel

I finally made it to the much loved Flying Squirrel Pizza down here in Lakewood (also often identified as Mt. Baker, Columbia City, or Seward Park), and I am pleased to say that I finally agree with some pizza hype.

We started our meal with an Arugula Salad, which was a big pile of spicy arugula with toasted pine nuts and snowy fresh shaved Parmesan in a light lemon dressing. I liked it.

We split our pizza between Roy's BBQ (made with Roy's smoked chicken and BBQ sauce, his side), and half Mamma Lil's spicy peppers, fresh basil and fresh garlic (my side).

Everything you've heard about this pizza is true: the ingredients are fresh and local when possible and plentifully distributed (hey "Napoli" style pizzerias, take note!) the crust is chewy AND crisp, not too thin, not too thick, the sauce is flavorful without being overpowering... it's good.

The ambiance is a little bit "cooler" than anything else we've got down here (save for Georgetown), but I can't imagine it feeling dauntingly so to any demographic. Potential downsides: it can be crowded and is on the expensive side, however, even with the coolness and the crowds, the parking is always easy. Come south!

Hot Mama's Pizza

Hot Mama's Pizza, which is open late, is located a few blocks west of Broadway on Pine and is thus especially well suited to satisfy late night, drunken hunger.

The shop is small, and after you order your slices (about $2.25 each), you can either take them on a paper plate out into the action of the street or stand inside at a crowded standing-only bar. The ambiance isn't really the point.

The pizza is pretty good in the sense that it tends to be thin, hot and cheesy with a nice crisp crust. They tend to have many vegetarian pizzas going earlier in the evening (mixed veggie, pesto, etc), but my experience has been that plain cheese dominates in the later hours. Far as I can tell, there is nothing suitable for a vegan.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it is the best pizza in the city, or even Capital Hill, and the quality of the slice varies pretty significantly depending upon whether it has been sitting or is fresh from the oven, BUT it has many of the qualities I like in pizza: a thin crust that is crisp but not crackery, plentyful but not oozing or overwhelming amounts of bubbled lightly browned cheese, and interesting toppings (hot peppers, fresh basil, etc). Hot Mama's manages to squarely hit the "after dinner" hunger and a couple of slices is a mighty fine nightcap.

Thanks K for yet another outstanding job as phone photographer.

Stellar Pizza

When not in the mood for hit-or-miss Napoleon style pizza, a natural south end pizza choice is Stellar Pizza in Georgetown. These guys make cheesy American style pizza with a thicker (by thin crust standards) crust and non-traditional toppings. They also serve beer and hard alcohol, become adult-only after 9pm, and are open and cooking late (midnight on the weekends and most of the week).

After a recent Georgetown Artwalk I stopped in with some friends and got lucky with an outside table. We had some beer and an E-27 Firefighter Pie, which is topped with salami, green peppers, red onions & black olives and jalapenos. They kindly put the (generous helping of) salami in a side bowl for the meat eaters to eat at their discretion.

Forgot to take pictures til the very end. Lone remaining salami slice.

I love spicy pizza, and I love a good condiment basket. Here they give you parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder and tabasco.

I'm not sure about vegan options (vegans should just hoof it over to Squid and Ink or the Georgetown Liquor Company to be assured an awesome meal!), but they have plenty of interesting stuff to satisfy a vegetarian, including various pizzas, a hummus plate, a vegetarian calzone, salads, and an eggplant sandwich.

Thanks K for the camera phone usage!

Stellar Pizza and Ale
(206) 763-1660

Georgetown
5513 Airport Way S
Seattle, WA 98108
www.stellarpizza.com

Pizzeria Pulcinella

Recently had a fun night at Pizzeria Pulcinella with a large party to celebrate a birthday. Pizza Pulcinella is located in the (well renovated) old Lakeside Tavern, which stands alone with its upside-down sign between Seattle and Renton.

The space was lovely on this particular gloomy day, and the menu had lots of interesting vegetarian pizza choices (most of which require ordering a menu item without its included meat), including pizzas with broccoli, arugula, pesto, and eggplant. Unfortunately, these guys are on the botched "Napoli style wood fired" pizza bandwagon that is messing up pizza all over this town.

Arugula, Parmesan and prosciutto, half without prosciutto

I love the idea of Neapolitan pizza. What I don't understand is how this style is so consistently bastardized into a soggy, dissolving, wet mess, and continues to be praised praised praised.

Broccoli Pizza, sans sausage

It could be that I am just WRONG about what it is supposed to be like. To me, a Neapolitan pizza should be very thin, very quickly cooked, and with a crust that is crisp hot. Instead, all Napoli pizza I've had in Seattle (which is this place and Tutta Bella) seems to be limp and sogged out. Are the ovens not hot enough? Do the San Marzano tomatoes need to be better drained? Is the dough too thick? Am I just ignorant?

Plus, the "I'm just gonna put on a sprinkle of toppings, because it's authentico!" idea is less impressive on a subpar crust.

The pesto pizza, without the i'm-amazing-cuz-i-come-from-italy San Marzano tomatoes, was quite a bit better in texture

Aside from the situation with the pizza, (which I did eat about a dozen slices of despite all this whining) the place was all kinds of good. The ambiance is pleasant, light and warm, especially on this rainy evening, and the waitress was outstandingly friendly and accommodating (even for our large party), without being cloying.

I don't mean to single these guys out. Their pizza is just as good as the other, very popular, praised as "authentic" Neapolitan pizzerias around town. But I just don't get it. Is everybody else being lulled along by the hype of a trend? Am I wrong about what it is supposed to be like? Am I just a pizza asshole?

Insalata Mista. That isn't my milk.

Pizzeria Pulcinella
(206) 772-6861
South Seattle
10003 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98178

Snoqualmie Brewery

The search for food after hard outdoor recreation is a serious situation, and the easily accessible restaurant selection along I-90 between Snoqualmie Pass and Seattle is not always enticing. We recently lucked out with tip from friends who live in Issaquah that opened a new dining possibility to satisfy the hunger from a day in the mountains: The Snoqualmie Brewery and Taproom.

It is located in the small town of Snoqualmie, which can be accessed off the highway 202 exit from I-90.

The food includes some typical fancy pub type fare, nachos, artichoke dip, etc, but also a wide range of hot and cold sandwiches made on Essential Bakery bread (most of which included meat, but there was at least one hot sandwich that was vegetarian), and most exciting to my particular hunger was the selection of hot fresh pizzas. For $10.50 I ordered a Greek pizza which was covered in pesto, artichoke hearts, roasted bell peppers, olives, feta etc, and was way bigger than I could eat myself. Could probably fill two people, even.

They also make all kinds of good beer, including their own rootbeer on tap, which our underage dining companion sampled and found to be a delicious but very strongly flavored beverage that was quite a bit more intense than what you might usually buy.

I guess the downside to this place was that there was just one waitress/bartender, and she was quite busy and service was thus a bit slow and scattered. But we were all pretty happy to be sitting down sipping our drinks and didn't mind.

Snoqualmie Brewery and Taproom
8032 Falls Ave. S.E.,
Snoqualmie, WA.
(425) 831-2357
http://www.fallsbrew.com

Lola's South City Bakery

If you live in South Seattle, you've likely zipped passed this discrete little restaurant and not even noticed it. It is located in Hillman City, just south from the heart of Columbia City, right across the street from the windowless extravagance of Maxim's Nightclub.

But it is worth a stop. Lola's is owned by really friendly and good intentioned people and has quality food. The restaurant is vegetarian (with numerous vegan options), but you wouldn't know it unless you surveyed the menu looking for meat because this detail isn't blaring. The values of the owner are clear: he makes high quality food and does his best to choose high quality, organic, local, seasonal, healthy ingredients.

My first visit landed on a Tuesday, a day that I soon learned is a slow start day for the restaurant, as it is transitioning from being fully closed on this day. We had come for pizzas, but the dough hadn't fully risen, so we got a couple of sandwiches instead.

The sandwiches were a bit light on the filling and heavy on the bread. I ordered the Vietnamese sandwich, and it contained a tofu mix, cilantro, pickled carrots and vegan mayonnaise.
We also had some homemade ice cream, which was made with local organic cream and no eggs. I appreciated the lack of eggs, but it did produce a lightly differently textured ice cream than one might be used to. They also make vegan sorbets. We ordered a bowl with two scoops of ice cream: one scoop of nectarine and one scoop of raspberry.
I also sampled an unusual cookie called the "Herb Garden." It was a short bread type cookie with gritty cornmeal, lemon, thyme and rosemary.
Fast forward to today... another rainy afternoon where the idea of hot pizza was overwhelming. We phoned Lola's with a pizza order to go (the pizzas are individual sized), and chose one cheese topped with Mamma Lil's Hot Peppers, and one cheese with Field Roast vegetarian sausage.
Even after the trip home, the pizzas were piping hot and full of integrity. The crust was really delicious. Not wafer thin, but thin still, and chewy and oily and gritty and crisp in all of the right places. The sauce was simple and good... not sweet at all, good tomato flavour. The cheese and toppings tasted great. I was thrilled.
They also have a fully vegan pizza made with caramelized onions and walnuts (with the option of adding blue cheese), but I'm not sure I'll ever get around to ordering that after tasting the pizza with cheese and spicy peppers.

Next time you're going out for pizza, give these guys a shot!!!

Lola's South City Bakery

(206) 725-0443

5607 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA